Seaside paid parking helps with the stress of finding a spot

SEASIDE, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Thousands of people come to South Walton every year, and many want to visit the small beach town of Seaside.

“It’s pretty busy, it’s a lot of people here,” Josh Willingham, who is visiting Seaside, said.

But finding somewhere to park can be a challenge.

One visitor said he bikes to Seaside just to avoid having to find a parking spot.

“Not so bad, but it was pretty busy today,” Willingham said.

This year Seaside is starting a pay-to-park program, so drivers can pay $15 to park their cars from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“Surprisingly, parking was very easy, the parking lot was full, however, we were able to get a spot and the parking attendant walked right up to us and we were able to pay and now we’re here,” Dana Labat, who was visiting Seaside, said.

Seaside Executive Director of marketing Kerri Parker said the parking is just another addition to make the experience of going to Seaside easier.

“We’ve increased our maintenance team, we’ve increased our courtesy team, we have a pretty large impact on guests and visitors, so the idea is just to keep Seaside clean and keep it a safe place,” Parker said.

Parker said the parking allows people to find a spot quickly, without having to drive around.

“Actually it helps to have a few empty spaces, so it helps our visitors a lot because when they come to Seaside they go to the parking destination and they’ll find an empty space,” Parker said.

The parking is located by the Seaside Neighborhood School.

Seaside is also encouraging people to use other forms of transportation by adding golf cart parking and bike racks.

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